XAVIER 3 - STEPINAC 41

  
     

Archbishop Stepinac beats sloppy Xavier, 41-3

Crusaders running back Malcolm Major rushes for three touchdowns.
QB Jerry Coleman tosses two TDs and rushes for another.

By Mitchell Petit-frere / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Saturday, September 14, 2013, 7:42 PM



Xavier QB William Tre Solomon faces pressure against Stepinac on Saturday at Aviator Field in Brooklyn.

Stepinac hit early and often Saturday afternoon in a 42-3 win over Xavier at Aviator Field in Brooklyn. “I knew we could come out here and put numbers up like that because of how much work we put in and how long we’ve been training for,” junior quarterback Jerry Coleman said after the lopsided victory. Coleman was a strong presence on the field all afternoon, going 12-for-13 for 186 yards with two passing touchdowns and one rushing score. “I was seeing things really clearly,” Coleman said. “I really wanted to make clear that I could throw the ball well.”

Junior running back Malcolm Major complemented Coleman’s aerial exploits with another standout performance on the ground, rushing for 85 yards and three touchdowns.  His first trip to the end zone came after a 45-yard run on the game’s second play from scrimmage.  My line did a great job. I didn’t even get touched,” Major said. “They just opened up the hole for me.”

Xavier had a chance to even the score on its next drive, but only came away with a field goal after a Stepinac goal line stand.  “Anytime you can keep another team out of the end zone it’s a great thing,” Stepinac coach Mike O’Donnell said. “It was a momentum change for them and if they had gotten the ball in the end zone, the game could’ve been a little bit different.”

Stepinac gained even more momentum midway through the second quarter when senior captain Jerry Thompson incited crazed cheers in the stands when he brought in a 20-yard pass from Coleman with one hand to put his team in the red zone.  “Everyone on the sidelines started getting a little bit quiet and I was just trying to pick up my team,” Thompson said. Coleman and Thompson hooked up again a couple of plays later for a touchdown that made the score 14-3.  Stepinac went into halftime with a 21-3 lead after a 3-yard touchdown run from Major.

Everything fell apart for Xavier when it fumbled the second half kickoff, leading to a 10-yard touchdown run from Coleman. Lighting struck twice when Stepinac recovered another fumble on the ensuing kickoff, which lead to Major’s third touchdown run of the day and 35-3 lead. “I think we were up against it even if we played well, and we played as badly as we possibly could - and the combination is not good,” Xavier head coach Chris Stevens said.

Stepinac will put its 2-0 record on the line when it faces St. Anthony’s next weekend.  “We probably have the toughest game of the season next weekend and we need to play our best,” Major said.